TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A Michigan man who was a freighter shipmate has died in an accident aboard a 1,000-foot freighter along northwest Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline.
Richard Gray of Traverse City died Monday following the accident on the Walter J. McCarthy freighter, along the Gary, Indiana, lakeshore, WWTV-TV reported.
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Details of the accident weren't available, but the website boatnerd.com reported that Gray, 35, was the second mate of the American Steamship Co. freighter, which was anchored offshore Gary and getting ready to come in and unload at the time of Gray's “tragic accident."
Gray was a graduate of Great Lakes Maritime Academy and had served as 1st Vice President of the International Shipmasters’ Association Grand Traverse Lodge #23.
His friend and colleague Ryan Miller has set up a GoFundMe for Gray’s family, which had raised nearly $70,000 by Saturday morning toward a $100,000 goal.
Miller said Gray, who was married and had three children, was the “ultimate family man.”
“Those three kids were his world … a devoted dad and husband,” he said.
Gray’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Immaculate Conception Church in Traverse City.